Democrats were still stinging from their defeat at the hands of Donald Trump. Every day, it seemed, brought news of another contact between Trumpworld and Russia. Flynn, a retired three-star general, was forced to resign after serving less than a month as Trump’s national security adviser.

They were musicians, writers, politicians, chefs and groundbreaking scientists. We lost many of our most beloved heroes, creators and leaders in 2018. Both the 41st U.S. president and the 41st U.S. first lady are also gone. Several of the 20th century’s most awarded authors, from Philip Roth and Tom Wolfe to Ursula K. Le Guin and Neil Simon, were laid to rest. Unfortunately, this was also a year marked by a number of high-profile suicides, including Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Avicii and Verne Troyer. Each of these losses was difficult in its own way. Click through the gallery above for a look back at celebrities we said goodbye to in 2018. Prior to becoming the 41st U.S. president in 1989, Bush made his name in the U.S. Navy, oil business, and U.S. Senate. After the Japanese attack on the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor, Bush enlisted in the Navy and became a pilot. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals and a Presidential Unit Citation. In 1945, he married Barbara Pierce, who later became U.S. First Lady when Bush was president. They had six children together, one of whom went on to become the 43rd U.S. president (George W. Bush) and another who became the governor of Florida (John Ellis “Jeb” Bush). After graduating from Yale University in 1948, Bush launched an oil career and became a millionaire by the time he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966. He first ran for president in 1980, and served as Ronald Reagan’s vice-president for both of Reagan’s terms. As U.S. president, he helped shepherd in the North American Free Trade Agreement with then-Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1993.